Monthly Archives: July 2014

Chandler continues to win

Anglesey saw the first triple header for the 5 Club Racing MX5 Cup. It was the fourth meeting of the season and saw rounds 7, 8 and 9 of the series. 22 cars made the trip to Wales for three exciting races.

Qualifying

Brian Chandler set the quickest time in the 15 minute qualifying session with a 1:22.80 which was an average speed of 67.39mph around the 1.55 mile venue.

Ben Short was the second quickest driver and was the only other driver to be within a second of Chandler as the pair prepared for another battle between the two of them.

Ed Gay set the third fastest time ahead of Sam Gendy, Andrew Coombs and Jonathan Hughes who completed the top six.

Race 1

Short beat Chandler off of the line in the first race but the pair switched places again on lap two. Chandler then steadily pulled out a gap of 4.6 seconds by the end of the race.

Gay ran in third before having to retire on lap four which allowed Gendy to take that position. Gendy was able to maintain a gap to James Rogers, who had worked his way up from seventh on the grid, to take the third spot on the podium.

Jack Sycamore had a strong race after moving up to fifth by the chequered flag, after starting down in ninth. Sycamore finished ahead of Coombs who had a slow start and fell back towards the back of the top ten on the opening lap.

Matthew Short and Daniel Stewart were involved in a tight tussle for seventh place and Short took the position on the final lap to ensure the place was his.

Hughes won the tight battle for ninth as he beat Darren Shepsman and Marco Aghem. Aghem was at the front of the scrap when the cars started their penultimate lap but fell outside the top ten and Hughes moved his way into ninth on the final lap ahead of Shepsman after falling to the back on lap two from his strong starting position.

Race 2

Chandler made it a lights-to-flag victory in race two and took nearly a six second victory over Ben Short. Once again, the pair were well clear of the rest of the field which was headed by Rogers.

Although Rogers held third throughout the race, he had Gendy all over him throughout the distance but Gendy was never able to find a way through.

Gay provided a magnificent drive as he fought his way through from last on the grid to catch the battle for third in the final stages.

Coombs and Hughes were embroiled in a good battle for sixth with Coombs coming out on top. The pair were chased by Matthew Short who caught them on the final lap but was never able to put in a real challenge to take a higher position. Sycamore, Shepsman and Aghem were next up just over a second behind Short.

Race 3

The third and final race saw the tightest battle between Ben Short and Chandler. Short, like in race one, made the better start and charged into the lead as Gendy briefly was in front of Chandler. It took until lap seven for Chandler to take the lead from Short and he was then only able to pull out a margin of 0.76 seconds as Short chased him all the way to the line. Chandler has competed in seven of the nine races this season – and has won each one of them!

After Chandler got back ahead of him, Gendy held on for third despite Hughes pursuing him to the flag.

Gay once again didn’t make it to the flag which gifted Rogers fifth place after a tight battle with Sycamore. Coombs ran in fourth in the early stages but dropped back to seventh and had a lonely end to his race. He beat Aghem who passed Matthew Short for eighth on lap nine.

Daniel Stewart finished inside the top ten after a strong drive from the last row on the grid. He passed Shepsman for tenth place on the penultimate lap of the race.

MX150R – Sports Specials

The 5 Club Racing MX150R Series was also in action at Anglesey and Stewart Mutch won both races.

Darren Griffin finished second in both encounters but was unable to touch Mutch.

Micky Scott and John Potter took a third and fourth place each with Slyvia Mutch completing the top five on both occasions.

Next Time…

Both the MX150R’s and the MX5’s will be out on circuit over 23-24 August at the Silverstone International Circuit. The weekend looks to be a real thriller, especially for the MX5 Cup as the Silverstone Circuit should provide some real slipstreaming fun. The weekend will be running out of the Grand Prix ‘Wing’ pits too. Join us there to find out if anybody can break Brian Chandler’s run of race victories.

Dengate and Mutch take victories

The third meeting of the season for the 5Club Racing MX150R Series commenced at the Rockingham Motor Speedway for rounds 5 and 6 of the series.

Qualifying

Kevin Dengate set the quickest time of the slippery session almost a second quicker than his closest rival, Chris Lovett. They were the pair that mastered the conditions and Stewart Mutch was the only other driver who beat the two minute mark. Russell Clarke and Darren Griffin completed the top five runners.

Race 1

The horrible track conditions from qualifying were replaced with sunshine and a dry circuit for the opening race of the weekend. Dengate made the best start and sprinted off into the distance.

Mutch managed to get away better than Lovett and took second place but took the positions swithced back on lap three when Mutch lost out. Dengate took a victory of ten seconds by the end of the ten lap race with Lovett beating Mutch to second. Clarke, who briefly got ahead of Mutch, held off Griffin who closed him in the closing the stages of the race and the pair were only separated by 0.78 seconds at the end of the race.

Micky Scott and John Potter were engulfed in a battle for sixth in the opening laps of the race but Scott managed to open a gap between the pair. Scott eventually beat Potter by three seconds at the end of the race. Sylvia Mutch came home in eighth place.

Race 2

Stewart Mutch took a lights-to-flag victory in the second race and pulled out a huge gap to any of his competitors.

Griffin won a close battle for second between himself and Scott. Griffin passed Scott after fighting his way through the field from a pit-lane start. Slyvia Mutch beat Potter and finished inside the top five.

The MX150R competitors will be back out in three weeks (26-27 July) at Anglesey where the MX5 Cup will also be competing for their first triple header meeting of the season. Join us there.